Gore and Giggles: top five greatest horror-comedies

September 16, 2:24 PMHartford Horror Movies ExaminerMary Eschuk

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Zombieland, in theaters Oct. 2nd

Like peanut butter and french fries, horror and comedy are two great tastes that don’t always (or often) taste great together. But in honor of upcoming attempts Jennifer’s Body (September 18) and Zombieland (October 2), we’ll take a look at the top five (because I could really only think of five that were trying to be both intentionally funny and scary at the same time) greatest Horror-Comedies of all time:

5. Return of the Living Dead (1985): “They’re Back from the Grave and Ready to Party!” declares the tagline of this zombie comedy romp. Taking a page from the hallowed book of ‘Night of the Living Dead,’ it’s up to a group of misfits to save the world from the undead once again. Punky teenagers + zombie disembowelment = comic gold.

4. Dead Snow (2009): 1) Norwegians are funny. 2) Getting killed while on the toilet is funny. 3) Nazi zombies are funny. Game, set, match.

3. Lake Placid (1999): Not exactly a horror movie, not exactly a comedy, this monster movie is nonetheless a lake full of laughs. From Oliver Platt’s flamboyant crocodile-worshiping professor to Betty White’s foul-mouthed cow-killer, this one is the perfect blend of laughs and shock value.

2. Black Sheep (2006): With a tagline like “Get Ready for Violence of the Lambs,” you might think Black Sheep was trying a bit too hard. And you’d be right. But there’s just something about sheep maulings that’s too hilarious not to laugh at.

1. Shawn of the Dead (2004): By far and away the funniest horror movie of all. Zombies are inherently amusing ghouls, and the heavy handed analogies to modern culture and rather maudlin bit in the middle aside, having a zombie buddy to play Halo with sounds like a win-win to me.

Honorable mentions go out to Army of Darkness (1992), Idle Hands (1999), Gremlins (1984), and Arachnophobia (1990). Keep in mind, I’ve only included films that are intentionally trying to be funny and scary at the same time!